Cable installing method and apparatus

ABSTRACT

A method for installing cable in a building wherein the cable is to be pulled from a central room or closet to multiple outlets in multiple offices, the method comprising providing a spool of cable to be installed, providing a cable guide device having a plurality of apertures therein and identifying indicia thereon for identifying the apertures and corresponding to the outlets to which the cable is being installed, inserting the free end of the cable through an aperture in the cable guide device, pulling the cable through the guide member to the outlet whose identification corresponds to the identifying indicia for the opening in the cable guide member through which the cable was pulled; also a cable guide member and a cable installation cart which supports multiple spools of cable to be installed and one or more cable guide having removable indicia thereon.

[0001] This invention relates to a method and apparatus for installingcabling such as data cables and telephone cables. More particularly thisinvention relates to a method and apparatus which greatly facilitatesthe installation of cables in buildings.

[0002] BACKGROUND AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The installation of cables in buildings such as office buildingsis a very important aspect of modem building construction. With the useof computers, data terminals, credit card verifiers, telecommunicationsystems, and the like being so commonplace in buildings, theinstallation of the cables needed for such systems has become anextremely important aspect of both new construction and old buildingrenovation. Modem offices often utilize duplex wall fixtures whichcontain outlets for both telephones and computer networks. And, olderbuildings which undergo renovation for new tenants, or simply undergomodernization, must have cables installed as part of the upgradingprocess in order to compete for tenants.

[0004] The installation of cables is a rather labor intensive processand ordinarily requires that cables be run or “pulled” from a centralcloset or computer room to the locations of wall outlets. Typically, anew office building will have at least one, and perhaps two duplexoutlets on each wall. Each duplex outlet would likely have both a datacable and a voice cable pulled from a central room or closet to theoutlet. Thus, in a simple office having four walls, with one outlet oneach of two walls, there would be two outlets requiring four cables tobe pulled from the closet to the office. On a given floor in eachbuilding, there may be any number of offices, each requiring fourcables. Since it is far easier to install the cables during the initialconstruction stage of a building, the tendency is to install more cablesthan will be needed, in order to create flexibility into the possiblelayout of the office, especially in offices designed for high densitymodular furniture.

[0005] Large spools of cables are generally placed in the central room,and the cable is generally pulled from the spools, through the ductworkor chase through ceiling space or raised flooring to the particularoffice location according to the building plan. Generally an installerwill start with the farthest room first and work toward the shortestpull. However, the pulling order used by the installer usually does notcoincide with the numbering order of the outlets on the plans. In otherwords, outlet number one may not necessarily be the first cable pulled.In fact, this would most likely be coincidence rather than intentional.

[0006] Once the cables are pulled, the ends of the cables in the officesare readily recognizable by referring to the outlets, since both on theplans and on the outlets and sometimes even the walls, the outlets arenumbered for reference. This helps maintain a degree of consistency sothat one can tell which outlet in a telephone system, for example,should be wired to a particular terminal on the central telephone unit.

[0007] Unfortunately, the ends of the cables in the “computer room” or“telephone closet” are generally merely cut to a length sufficient toenable connection at any location in that room or closet, and theinstaller moves right on to the next cable pull. This leaves a largequantity of excess cable which eventually will be cut off at the properlength. However, the ends are often not marked in any way or are simplymarked with a piece of tape, so that when the telephone or computernetwork installer arrives to install the necessary hardware, he mustdetermine which end in a large bundle of taped ends is associated withwhich outlet. This is usually a trial and error step which can be verytime consuming, particularly in large closets with hundreds of cablesrunning to different offices. Thus, even when the ends of the cables aremarked in some way, the markings are often lost or mislabeled. Althougha different color cable is ordinarily used for data cables than forvoice cables, and this helps to reduce the selection process, much isleft to trial and error in the overall process. In addition, it is notunusual for the number of outlets or the numbering of the outlets tochange after plans are drawn, or even after cables are pulled, and thiscan contribute to confusion in the computer room and errors in theinstallation.

[0008] Regardless of how the cables have been pulled and identified inthe past, the hardware installer has been obliged to work with a randomarray of numbered cables, which still had to be terminated or connectedin a specific order.

[0009] Thus, a primary object of the present invention is to provide animproved method and apparatus for installing cabling in buildings.

[0010] A further object of the invention is to provide a method forinstalling cabling which greatly reduces the time required to properlyconnect cables.

[0011] Still another object of the invention is to provide a method forinstalling cabling which provides a cable numbering at the closet end ofthe cables which corresponds to the numbering of the respective cableoutlets.

[0012] Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a method forinstalling cabling in a building which facilitates installation of thecables in an orderly manner.

[0013] Another object of this invention is to provide a method forinstalling cabling in a building in which the cables are arranged in aneat and orderly fashion, improving the appearance of the work and thelabor costs involved in the installation.

[0014] Still a further object of the invention is to provide anapparatus for installing cabling in a building which facilitates pullingthe cables in a desired sequence and enables reordering that sequenceafter the cables have been pulled.

[0015] Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus forinstalling cabling in a building whereby cables may be pulled fromspools and numbered as they are pulled.

[0016] Yet another object of the invention is to provide an apparatusfor numbering cables during installation of the cables in a building,and permitting easy changing of the numbering after the cable has beenpulled.

[0017] Still a further object of the invention is to provide anapparatus which enables multiple cables to be pulled to differentoutlets simultaneously while maintaining the desired numbering of thecables.

[0018] These and other objects and advantages of the invention willbecome apparent from the following description of the invention whenconsidered with the accompanying drawings and claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] According to the present invention, there is provided a cart forcarrying a plurality of spools of cable to be used in the cablingprocess. The cart is highly flexible, and capable of supporting thespools at different heights according to the particular cable run beingpulled. The cart is supported on wheels so as to be easily movable tosuitable locations, and the cart carries at one end a pair of verticalupright support members. At their lower ends, the upright members may beprovided with adjustable, ground engaging feet which can be lowered intocontact with the floor to stabilize the cart while the cable is beingpulled.

[0020] At the upper ends of the upright members, a height-adjustableframe carries one or more cable guide members. The cable guide membersare a particularly important part of the invention, and comprise aplurality of strips of rigid material, such a wood, plastic, or the likewhich are assembled and secured together. These guide members areprovided with a plurality of circular openings of a diameter slightlygreater than the outside diameter of the cable being pulled in thebuilding. Each of the openings in the guide member is provided with aunique identifying indicia, for example numbers numbered sequentially,starting with 1 and continuing until all of the openings are numbered.

[0021] When the installer starts to pull cable to the first outlet, hedetermines the number of the outlet from the plan, and then inserts thecable into the opening numbered the same as the outlet, and then pullsthe cable through the guide member, and through the walls, chases,ducts, ceilings, etc., until reaching the desired outlet. As the cableis pulled, the spools unroll, paying out cable as needed. The remotecable end is then installed, or at least secured, at the outlet numberedaccording to the plan, and the installer returns to the closet and cutsthe cable at a point so as to leave sufficient cable to reach thedesired location in the closet. The closet end of the cable remains inthe guide member.

[0022] The process is repeated with the next piece of cable passingfirst through the numbered opening into cable guide corresponding to thenumber of the outlet being run, and is then pulled to the next outlet tobe cabled. The process continues until all cables have been pulled fromthe cart, through the guide member to the desired outlet.

[0023] An important feature of the method is to remove the cable guidemember from the closet-ends of the cables, while leaving the identifyingindicia on the ends of the cables. This allows reuse of the cable guidemember in other closets or rooms, while the identification remainsintact at least until the hardware installation is completed.

[0024] According to one way of accomplishing this, the cable guidemembers are preferably provided with a strong, flexible covering sheetreleasably secured to one of the faces of the guide members. Thiscovering sheet is made of a material such as leather, or a suitablystrong synthetic material, and is perforated by the same number of holesin the same locations as in the guide member. The numerical identifyingindicia for the openings is preferably visible on both sides of thecovering sheet, but the numbering sequence is reversed on opposite sidesin order that the each opening has the same identifying number on eachside of the flexible sheet.

[0025] The covering sheet is removably secured to the face of the guidemember in any well known manner, for example by a hook-and-loop fasteneror a releasable adhesive. Once all of the cables have been pulled, therigid guide member may be removed, leaving the flexible sheet in placeon the cables. This provides a numerical identifying indicia for each ofthe cables which corresponds to the outlet numbers. The covering sheetmay be left permanently on the cables if desired, or may be removed oncethe installation of the hardware is completed and all connections havebeen made. Because of the flexibility of the covering sheet, the cablesmay be tightly bundled and the bundle may be pulled through a conduit,if needed, with the covering sheet in place on the cables. Or, the cablemay be pulled through a wall, a cabinet, or other such structure.

[0026] In this manner, not only are the cables identified by theindicia, but they are now also arranged in an ordered array, accordingto the identifying indicia. Sometime the order will simply be 1, 2, 3, 4. . . n wherein ‘n’ is the highest number of the indicia, but the ordermay also depend upon the particular equipment being installed, in whichcase the order can be custom configured for the equipment.

[0027] In an alternative embodiment, multiple covering sheets may beused over a cable guide member, so that after the cables have beenpulled, the cables may be separated into smaller groups as indicated bythe particular covering sheets. This can be particularly helpful in thecase of data cable installation for some networks.

[0028] In still another embodiment, a pair of similar guide members maybe mounted side-by-side, or one above the other, on the vertical uprightmembers. One guide member can be used for data cables and the other forvoice cables. Typically, voice and data cables would be of differentcolors. In this manner, by inserting the end of a voice cable through anumbered aperture in one of the guide members, and the end of the datacable through the same numbered aperture in the other guide members, theinstaller can pull both the voice and data cable to the same outlet atthe same time. This facilitates installing both data and voice cablesinto duplex outlets, and greatly reduces the amount of time needed forsuch installations.

[0029] Of course a numbered guide member may also be used and left inplace on the cables if desired, or multiple guide members may be joinedtogether during cable pulling, and then separated into discrete groupsafter the cables have all been pulled.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] The accompanying drawings, form a part of the present applicationand show by way of non-limiting illustration, a preferred embodiment ofthe invention. In these drawings,

[0031]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cart forming a part of theinvention;

[0032]FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the general cabling layout of atypical building plan with which the present invention is used;

[0033]FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the cable guiding portion ofthe cart of FIG. 1;

[0034]FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of a portion of thecable guide frame and guide members taken along lines 4-4 of FIG. 3 andviewed in the direction of the arrows;.

[0035]FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of one of the strips whichare assembled to make the cable guide member of FIGS. 3 and 6;

[0036]FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of one of the cable guide membersas shown in FIGS. 1 and 3; and

[0037]FIG. 7 is an enlarged plan view of the flexible sheet portion ofthe cable guide member on a bundle of cables, and bearing identifyingnumbers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0038] Referring first to FIG. 1, a cart generally designated 10 isshown, and includes a frame 12 with a pair of axles 14 carrying wheels16. At one end of the frame, a pair of upright vertical standard members18 are provided. These standards are preferably made in multipletelescopic sections, such as the outer section 20 and inner section 22.Fasteners such as bolts 24 are provided and are used to secure therelative position of the inner sections 22 and the outer sections 20,and thus the height of the upper end of the inner sections 22.

[0039] At the lower ends of each vertical standard member 18, anadjustable foot 19 is provided in order to stabilize the end of thecart. The foot 19 may be adjusted to a suitable distance out of thestandard member 18 and then secured by a bolt 21. Alternatively, thefeet 19 may be on threaded stems which screw into fittings in the lowerends of the standards 18.

[0040] At or near the upper ends of the inner section, a cable guidemember generally designated 26 is secured to the uprights 18, forexample by bolts 28. The guide member 26 will be described in greaterdetail below.

[0041] A plurality of upright support members 30 are also provided onthe frame 12, and are generally positioned in pairs. The upper ends ofthe support members 30 are provided with V-shaped supports 32 which areintended to support axles 34. The axles 34 pass through and supportspools of cable 36 for rotation on the axles 34. In some situations, itis desirable to provide an addition cable guide member 38 to guide thecables as they pass from the spools. This cart enables a number ofspools of cable, of the same or different color, to be presented forinstallation.

[0042] The installation of cable in a building in ordinarily doneaccording to a plan, such as a portion of the building plan. One suchplan is shown in FIG. 2 wherein typical building plan designations areused to show the location of different aspects of the installation.Thus, a computer room or closet is shown as 40 with cables 42 beingshown running to different portions of the floor plan 44. The floor plan44 shows a plurality of rooms, e.g. offices 46, and each office has atriangle designating the location of duplex cable wall outlets 48. Eachof the wall outlets 48 bears, on the plan, a numerical designationunique to that outlet. Most commonly, the architect merely starts at onepoint and numbers the outlets consecutively. The plans generally are notintended to designate the route the cables must follow, but rather thelocation of the ends.

[0043]FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 show in detail the construction of the cableguide member according to the present invention. The guide member 26 issecured to and supported by the upright standards 22, and held in placeby the screw 28 threaded into the side of the guide member. The guidemember 26 comprises a plate-like member having a plurality of aperturestherein, through which the cables are inserted during the installation,with each aperture being identified by a unique identifying indicia.Preferably the guide member 26 is made of a plurality of like strips 50which, when assembled, form the guide member.

[0044] Thus, the strips 50 are assembled into the position shown inFIGS. 3 and 6 and secured in that position by bolts 52 which passthrough openings 56 in each end of the strips 50 and wing nuts 54 . Eachof the strips 50 has a plurality of semi-circular cutouts 58 formedalong the top and bottom edges, such that two adjacent strips form alinear array of circular openings 60 through which the cable passes. Oneway of forming these cutouts is to assemble the strips and secure themwith the screws 52, and then drill a series of holes along the lines atwhich the strips abut. The strips 50 may be made of any suitablematerial, such as wood, molded plastic, aluminum or steel. In any case,the holes are sized such as to easily receive the particular size ofcable being installed and guide the cable as it is pulled. The holes 60may also be chamfered on one or both faces to facilitate passing thecable through the holes 60 without scraping the insulation of the cable.

[0045] The strips 50 when secured by the bolts, form a rather rigidplate-like member, through which the cables may be readily pulled. Theassembly is also bordered by upper and lower frame strips 62, 64 whichhelp to support the assembly and keep it rigid. Of course the bolts 52also pass through these frame strips.

[0046] In a preferred embodiment, the identifying indicia is provided ina unique manner. Attached to one face of the cable guide member 26 is aflexible covering sheet 66 which also has a plurality of holes 68passing through it in alignment with the holes 60 in the guide member.The flexible covering sheet 66 may be made of any suitable flexible,sheet-like material, such as leather, thin plastic, heavy paper or thelike. Leather is preferred because of its strength and flexibilityproperties. As seen in FIG. 7, the holes 68 are each numberedconsecutively, ordinarily starting with 1 (only some of the numbersbeing shown, it being understood that each aperture is numbered). Thenumbers may be printed or embossed onto the sheet 66, depending on whatmaterial is used to make the sheet. In use, the numbers will correspondto the numbers of the outlets to which the cables are being pulled inthe building.

[0047] The covering sheet 66 may be attached to the guide member 26 byany suitable temporary attaching technique, such as a releasableadhesive, or a sheet like fastener such as a hook-and-loop fastener ofthe type known as Velcro®, or even two-part snaps. After all of thecables have been pulled through the guide member, the flexible sheet 66is removed from the guide member 26. Then, wingnuts 54 are removed fromthe bolts 52 and the cables are removed from the guide member 26. Theguide member may then be completely removed from the cables, while theflexible sheet 66 with the numerical indicia thereon, stays in place onthe cables. The flexible sheet may be moved downstream on the cables,toward the outlets, or the cables may even be removed later from theflexible sheet, after the cables have been connected to the computer ortelephone hardware.

[0048] As seen in FIG. 3, two different guide members may be provided,which have been labeled A and B. Each of these guide members will haveits own flexible sheet with its own labeling indicia. The A guide membermay be used for voice cable, for example white in color, and the B guidemember may be used for blue data cable. It is not necessary that theindicia be located in the same place on the flexible sheet, but merelythat both of the cables intended for outlet number 2, for example, passthrough the opening in the flexible sheet numbered 2. In the event thata change is made in the outlet numbering for one or more outlets, thecable or cables affected are simply removed from the one hole andinserted into the hole bearing the new number. Similarly, if anadditional out of sequence numbered outlet is added to the plan, thecable is simply pulled through the appropriately numbered hole in theflexible sheet and the guide member to the outlet.

[0049] By leaving the flexible sheet in place on the group of cablesrunning from one particular closet or room, those cables stay neatlyarranged and bundled, and retain their number. Even if the entire bundlemust be pulled through a cabinet, for example, or some other structure,the flexible sheet can remain in place so that the numbering remainsintact.

[0050] If it is necessary to add an additional cable or to change thenumber of a cable after it has been pulled, this can be easily done byremoving the cable from the flexible sheet and inserting it into theaperture corresponding to the new number of the outlet. Thus a greatdeal of flexibility in the installation is possible.

[0051] While this invention has been described as having certainpreferred features and embodiments, it will be understood that it iscapable of still further variation and modification without departingfrom the spirit of the invention, and this application is intended tocover any and all variations, modifications and adaptations of theinvention as may fall within the spirit of the invention and the scopeof the appended claims.

What I claim is:
 1. A method for installing cable in a building whereinthe cable is to be pulled from a central room to multiple outlets inmultiple offices, the method comprising providing a spool of cable to beinstalled, providing a cable guide member having a plurality ofapertures therein and identifying indicia thereon for identifying saidapertures and corresponding to the outlets to which the cable is beinginstalled, inserting the free end of the cable through an aperture insaid cable guide member, pulling the cable through said guide member tothe outlet whose identification corresponds to the identifying indiciafor the opening in the cable guide member through which the cable waspulled.
 2. A method for installing cable as in claim 1 and includingsevering the cable between the spool and the cable guide member.
 3. Amethod for installing cable as in claim 2 and including repeating theinserting and pulling steps until the installation is completed.
 4. Amethod for installing cable as in claim 3 and including removing saidcable guide member from the cable while leaving the identifying indiciaon the cable.
 5. A method for installing cable as in claim 1 andincluding removing said cable guide member from the cable while leavingthe identifying indicia on the cable.
 6. A method for installing cableas in claim 5 and wherein said identifying indicia is carried on aflexible sheet having a plurality of apertures through which said cablepasses.
 7. A method for installing cable as in claim 6 and wherein saididentifying indicia comprises a series of numbers with a unique numberfor each cable passing through said flexible sheet.
 8. A cable guidemember for aiding the installation of cables being pulled from a centralroom to multiple outlets in multiple offices, said cable guide membercomprising a rigid plate-like member having a plurality of aperturesformed therein, said apertures being of a diameter slightly greater thatthe outside diameter of the cable being installed, identifying indiciaon said cable guide member for each of the apertures in said cable guidemember, said identifying indicia being removable from said cable guidemember for identifying a cable pulled through the apertures in saidguide member, and said cable guide member being non-destructivelyremovable from the cables after the cables have been installed in theapertures and pulled to the outlets.
 9. A cable guide member as in claim8 and wherein said wherein said cable guide member comprises a flexiblesheet temporarily adhered to one face of said plate-like member andhaving apertures formed in flexible sheet coinciding with the aperturesin said plate-like member, said identifying indicia being located onsaid flexible sheet and removable therewith from said cable guidemember.
 10. A cable guide member as in claim 9 and wherein said cableguide member comprises a plurality of elongated rigid strips andfastener means releasably securing said strips in side-by-side fashion.11. A cable guide member as in claim 10 and wherein said apertures insaid cable guide member comprise apertures formed in said rigid stripsso that one half of each aperture is formed in each of two adjacentstrips.
 12. A cable guide member as in claim 9 and including a wheeledcart having a pair of upstanding support members, said cable guidemember being secured to said support members, a plurality of cable spoolsupports mounted on said cart whereby cable may be unspooled from cablespools mounted on said supports and pass through the apertures in saidcable guide member.
 13. A cable guide member as in claim 12 andincluding a plurality of said cable guide members secured to saidsupport members.
 14. A cable guide member as in claim 13 and including apair of height adjustable feet extending from the lower end of saidsupport members for stabilizing said cart.
 15. A cable installation cartcomprising a frame, wheels for movably supporting said frame, aplurality of upstanding cable spool supports extending upwardly fromsaid frame and supporting cable spools for unspooling cable, a pair ofvertical support members at one end of said frame for supporting one ormore cable guide members thereon in a position to receive cable from thecable spools, said guide members comprising a plurality of aperturestherein and identifying indicia thereon for identifying said aperturesand corresponding to the outlets to which the cable is being installed,said identifying indicia being carried on a flexible sheet having aplurality of apertures through which said cable passes, and saidflexible sheet being removably fastened to on face of said cable guidemember.